History Repeats Itself
by Ieh
Summary: The ruling of Kiara and Kovu has begun. But when emotions grow between Kovu and Sora, their relationship will be tried and put through the ultimate test along the way: fedelity. Rated T just in case. Chapter 2 is in now!
1. A chilly reception

-1**Hello all and welcome to my fanfic of The Lion King III. This story takes off several years after the ending of Simba's Pride, and in this current day and time Kiara and Kovu are the rulers of the land. This series is gonna be called "History Repeats Itself" because you will see several striking similarities in some of the characters to the original movie. Of course I'll throw my own twists and turns in there, so you don't get completely bored. ;-) And now I take you to the savannah…early one morning…**

It was the third day of Laika's life. As tradition dictated, today was the day of her presentation. The tiny lioness squirmed around between her mother's paws. Kiara stared down at her daughter in wonder. She loved her, loved her with more than she thought could be possible for something so small. Yet already, there were some things about her that disturbed both the King and Queen.

Laika had beautiful eyes, a clear and deep blue. That would be fine, if Nala was still alive. Every time Kiara looked into them she was forced to remember her mother. The former Queen had died only a few months before the birth of her first grandchild, leaving a distraught Kiara officially the Queen.

The second thing that haunted Kiara about her cub was that she had the streak. Just like her grandmother Zira, a pointed, dark brown streak ran the length of her back, creeping up and ending in a triangle at the crown of her head. It was a constant reminder of the one that had caused so much pain.

Laika raised a paw high into the air, swatting at her mother's nose as it was lowered. Kiara smiled, knowing this one would be a fighter. Kovu moved towards them both, smiling and head butting Kiara affectionately as he did. He placed a paw on Kiara's arm, so that it rested next to Laika. She sniffed the air and moved forward towards it happily, comforted by the scent of her father. She nearly blended in with him as she tried to wrap her body around his paw, except she was just a shade lighter than his dark mocha.

The new king had changed a lot since his first days as a member of Pride Rock. His mane had grown long and thick, resembling Simba's when he was in his prime. Of course, he still had the familiar lump that fell to the side over one eye. His scar had faded, though was still a distinguishing part of his profile. Now that Kovu was a fully grown adult, he was a very large lion, with a lot of power behind his blows. But now, he looked like nothing except for a gentle and caring father, bursting with pride over his cub.

He watched Rafiki with caution as Laika was lifted from Kiara's arms. Kiara shot him a look in her usual nature, a sort of 'don't worry, he held me when I was that young too' expression. The Queen stretched, rising to her feet and following after Kovu and Rafiki to the very tip of Pride Rock.

The view from the top was enough to take anyone's breath away on a normal day-which meant that today it was sure to make Kiara and Kovu dizzy. The entire pride lands had attended, curious about the new princess and how the new King and Queen were holding up. The grasses swayed below, still golden from the early rays of the morning sun. Kiara danced nervously beside Kovu, fidgeting in place. She could feel the energy, the excitement mounting beneath her paws. Now she finally understood completely what her father had meant. This entire world looked to her and Kovu as their leaders.

It was as if Rafiki could feel it too. He waited until the exact moment, when the tension was at its highest before he thrust the tiny cub into the air. At that moment, a strong wind picked up. Kiara closed her eyes, knowing it was her parents wishing her good luck. But this wind wasn't the warm, familiar one she remembered as a cub, when she had sat with her father. It was cold, icy almost, and chilled her to the bone.

Her eyes snapped open and she moved in closer to Kovu's side. He had his head bowed, obviously oblivious to it all. The animals below them were doing their usual carrying on of neighing, trumpeting, stomping and snorting in approval. "…Daddy?" Kiara whispered to the air. She squinted her eyes towards the heavens. Instead of looking bright and happy, they looked dark. A thunderstorm was approaching, quicker than she had ever known it to.

A loud crack of thunder sounded suddenly and Kiara screamed, jumping back in alarm. Within seconds the heavens broke loose with all they had in rain. The animals below scattered, and pandemonium broke out. "Laika!" Kiara cried. Why was it raining so hard? She was drenched, and couldn't see two feet in front of her. And the rain felt cold, icy, and numbed her to the bone.

"Get back. Hurry!" The familiar voice of Kovu broke through, and she became aware of his warmth as he stood at her left flank. She did as she was told, moving too slow. She felt the rock below her cracking, crumbling. Kiara's eyes widened as she realized that the area where Rafiki had been standing was gone. It had washed away instantly, and now the fragile tip that out looked the savannah was following suit.

"Kovu!" She cried, her eyes frantic as she somehow made it back down the rock. The crumbling had stopped once she moved away and there was no more weight pressuring it in its stressed state. Somehow she made it into the den area, trembling and wet. Kovu was there, surrounded by the lionesses.

"Rafiki is gone." He said after a few moments. Kiara was still trembling, her head pressed tightly under his chin.

"…Gone?" Kiara backed away slowly, as though the simple words he had spoken were a different language. She blinked, her red eyes shining. The lionesses around her all gasped, fear filling their expressions as they realized what this meant.

Kiara pressed her head into Kovu's mane and cried. What else was there to do? The curse continued to haunt the royal family, in one way or another. The first born cub had always died, every since the time of Mufasa's reign. It was an old legend that because Ahadi had been selfish and picked Mufasa to rule that revenge would forever show up in his descendants. Simba had an older brother, called Kimba. He had suffered an ill fate, and died when he was two days old. It was several years later before Mufasa and Sarabi decided to have another cub.

Then later on the curse continued when Simba and Nala had their first cub, Kopa. When Kopa was a young cub, he had been killed by Zira. The wedge was driven between the King and Queen, and their relationship never fully recovered. Nala blamed Simba for being too busy to show attention to Kopa while he was alive, and she withdrew from Kiara, never fully loving her as much as she had Kopa.

And now, here was this. On what was supposed to be a happy day, their world was collapsing around them. Kiara simply sat, crying openly as Kovu tried to comfort her. He had never been one to show much emotion, and all he did now was shut his eyes tightly and grimace. The worst part of it for them was that it was all a freak accident.

"I'm so sorry sis." Kiara looked up in surprise, seeing her younger sister staring at her with a sorrowful look. Sora took after Nala much in the way that Kiara had taken after Simba. She had the clear bright eyes of her mother, and a much paler coat. Kiara was surprised to see Sora looking sad because, in truth she knew what Sora was after.

Kiara had always had her suspicions of her little sister, sometimes she would catch her staring after Kovu with a longing expression, or sometimes when they were all playing around Sora would cling to Kovu just a little bit longer than was necessary. Kiara was a very jealous female by nature, and had confronted Sora about it several times. Of course, the younger had always denied it furiously, red faced and quick pulsed, and stomped off.

But now, Kiara was willing to put that aside. Who was she to think that Sora had that much evil in her heart? She didn't want this to happen, hadn't planned for it to, of course not. There was no way any of them could have predicted what had happened. "Thanks." Kiara managed to choke out. By this point she was laying down, head across Kovu's paws. He ran a paw lovingly over her back, and rested his shaggy damp mane here.

Sora's eyes flickered for a moment with an intense rage. She had never understood why Kovu loved Kiara so much. It was true that she had a crush on him, but that wasn't the main reason for her hate of her sister. Kiara was so ditsy, so incredibly immature. It killed her inside to know that Kiara was the queen, and treated the power as though it was no big deal. Sora had always been the better huntress, the better debater. She thought with her head, not her heart. But that was never enough.

Most of her life Sora had been raised by the community. It could be said that her birth was entirely an accident, as she was born only a few months after Kiara's first run in with Kovu. If Nala had showed little interest in Kiara, she showed none in Sora. Simba was of course, too preoccupied with Kiara, and afraid to let her out of his sight for one second. By the time she was ready for her first hunt, he was so absorbed in her that it hardly mattered Sora wasn't far behind.

It wasn't enough that Kiara got to be queen, and was Daddy's favorite. It was that she was able to win everyone over, with little to no logic. Including Kovu. Sora knew that when Kovu first joined the pride, he had no feelings for Kiara. Kiara threw herself at him, and over time she must have grown on him….like a festering tick or rabies. Whatever the reason, it made her sick.

But even with all this knowledge, Sora would never wish death on one of Kovu's own. She moved away silently from the group who were doing their best to comfort Kiara. It seemed that Kovu had moved away from her, and was staring out across the plains. As quickly as the storm had came, it had stopped. Water dripped from the mouth of the cave to a steady rhythm.

Sora moved beside him, and sat. They both stared into the distance for a long time. "Kovu…if there is anything, and I do mean anything…" She put a paw lightly on top of his. He jumped, but didn't try to move it. Sora stared at their paws, joined together for a moment. The contrast of the mocha fur underneath the cream was a beautiful sight to her. When she looked up, she found he was meeting her gaze.

"Thanks Sora." He moved quickly, embracing her in a tight hug. Sora's cheeks flushed a bright red, but she closed her eyes and sighed. She could feel the grief radiating from the king. Tears filled her eyes as she realized that Kovu needed to be comforted just as much, if not more, than Kiara. When he pulled back, both their eyes were misty again.

"But I think you know the answer to the question, even before it was asked. The only thing…that I want right now is my little girl back." Kovu bowed his head for a moment, trying not to let the fear and grief out in his voice. His eyes shut tightly as his long mane fell around his shoulders, shielding his face from her. He couldn't cry, it would be weakness on his part. Instead he stood, and walked down the path towards the savannah.

Sora thought on this for a moment, watching him sadly as he continued walking, standing out against the dreary and gray land beneath him. "Oh Kovu…god knows I would do anything for you." She whispered as she laid down.


	2. Steady as a rock?

-1**Welcome to Chapter Two! Woot! I would like to give a big thanks to those who read this, and to those who review. I'm going to slowly introduce a few more cannon characters into the pride, as well as some original ones as well so that I don't overwhelm everyone. Timon and Pumba probably won't be in this story at all…they kinda…annoy the snot out of me. -- But that aside, feel free to comment on what you'd like to read next, or tell me if its crap, whichever!**

In the dark corner of the dens a scruffy looking female laid, clutching her cub tightly. Her mind flashed back to that day when everything had changed. _"Mother…I tried."_ She shivered, wrapping a golden paw around her baby even tighter. Vitani stared down at her little son, who was just a few days older than Laika had been. "I promise I will never let that become us." She whispered to him as a tear slid slowly down her face.

Abidemi hadn't been a planned cub by any means, and it was a mystery to the rest of the pride who his father was. But Vitani was already a much better mother to him than Zira had been to her, or Nuka for that matter. He was a handsome boy with blue eyes like his mother. His fur was a few shades darker than hers, but not nearly as dark as Kovu's. His tiny tail wagged as he stared up at Vitani, open mouthed in confusion.

He had been betrothed to Laika, and would have been the future king. But now the hopes for that seemed dashed. Vitani didn't really mind, just as long as he was safe. She was still rough around the edges, but she had learned her lesson from her psychotic mother. She would never put the pressure on Abidemi to become King.

Vitani's heart went out to Kiara. She knew the pain of loss, the two had suffered the exact same losses over their life. A mother, a father, and a brother-all gone. Though Vitani was slightly bitter knowing that Kiara had been able to tell her parents goodbye at least. At least Simba and Nala had died soundly of old age, warm and safe in their den. Zira had died thinking that her beloved daughter had betrayed her.

Meanwhile, Sora made her way slowly down the rocks, shaking her head as a stray droplet caught her on the nose. She looked up towards the sky, which was clearing. In fact, it looked like the heavens were exposing themselves, it was beautiful. "This is what should have happened." She muttered to herself. Beams of light cascaded from the clouds, landing in random spots around the rocks. Her gaze fell to the very base of Pride Rock, where the crumbled edge had laid.

Her heart sank, but for some reason she felt she needed to do it. Slowly, Sora moved forward towards the rubble. The least she could do was find Laika and Rafiki's bodies. She raised a paw and cautiously began to dig through the top layer first. A dark blur met her, standing on top of the pile. The figure gave a mighty roar and swatted at her. Sora yelped, jumping back in alarm as she looked up to meet Kovu's eyes.

"This isn't your burden." He growled, and turned his back to her. Several of the lionesses had came outside, startled by the roar. Kiara was one of them. She narrowed her eyes at Sora and stalked past her to join Kovu on top of the rubble.

"Kovu…please…let's just go inside…come on let's just-" She began to whine, tugging at his arm. Kovu stayed rigid, as unmoving as a statue atop the rubble. Several of the lionesses glanced at each other, fearing that their King had gone insane. Kiara began to sob again, and laid down on top of the heap.

"Kiara-Shut up!" This time it was Vitani as she moved forward. She understood how Kovu was feeling. Again, waves of flashbacks entered her mind of the day Nuka had died. _"I'll do it for you, mother!"_ She shook her head and begin to slowly dig at the rubble. Kovu bowed his head, moving his paw over a boulder. He began to dig frantically as well, alongside his sister. They both stopped, seeing the first of Rafiki, a gnarled finger that was strangely pointing to the left.

"Dig faster!" Vitani cried. Sora leaped back onto the mound, helping in the efforts. Kiara took a step back, staring as though she was stunned. Of course she was used to Vitani, so she expected language like that from her. She sat down, staring at her paws as though she was ashamed.

Suddenly all three stopped, eyes wide in disbelief. They had managed to unearth Rafiki's body, which was bent the wrong way in several places. In his other arm, cradled tightly to his chest, was Laika. The cub turned over slowly, opening her eyes sleepily at her aunts and father. Her mouth opened in surprise, expressing happiness as she reached her tiny paws out for her daddy.

Kovu scooped her up quickly. The entire pride was out here by now, gathered around the rubble. No one moved, they were waiting to see what would happen. He held Laika tightly, but not so much as to squish her. She snuggled into his mane, purring her own baby purr of happiness. And then, the King cried.

He cried freely, until streams of tears poured down his cheeks. It was as if all the emotions that he had ever felt but couldn't let out…were pouring out of him now. All the rage, hatred, loneliness, fear, sadness, joy and love were coming out now. He began to shake so much that Vitani gently took Laika from him and passed her off to Kiara.

Laika continued to coo happily, not understanding what all the big fuss was. The lionesses still weren't sure what to make of it. They had never seen Kovu cry, not even when his mother died, not even when Simba or Nala died. And now, here he was, unable to do anything but sob and shake over finding his daughter alive. Sora decided she would have to be the one to take the lead this time.

She stood atop the pile of rubble and let out a roar, but it was a roar filled with hurt and sorrow. It was the roar of loss, not heard since the night Mufasa died. Several lionesses marched forward and retrieved Rafiki's body from the rocks. The rest joined in with the roar of loss.

Kiara bounded up the pile of rocks, standing to address everyone. She reluctantly passed Laika off to Sora. "This is a time of great loss, but a time of great joy. The princess is alive and well, as you can see." She beamed towards Sora, a great smile on her face. "We must hold a proper funeral for Rafiki. He was an old baboon, but his death was still an untimely one. Thus, our roars shall be of loss." She bowed her head, and the others followed suit.

Sora rolled her eyes as she stood behind Kiara. _What a freaking drama queen. Always has to make a speech about things." _She sighed, bowing her head as well. She had to admit, Rafiki had been a good friend to the family, even if she hadn't known him personally. After several minutes, Kiara snatched Laika hastily back from Sora, and pranced down the rocks to the den

The pride trailed after Kiara, until only Sora and Kovu remained. "I thank you." Kovu said, smiling a half hearted cheesy smile at Sora. "You…brought her back to me." His smile spread, as the tears still glistened in his eyes. Sora felt her heart melt, and she blushed, turning her gaze away.

"It was nothing less than a miracle, your majesty." She said quietly. "The great kings were watching over her. They were the ones who showed the way. I just followed the path." She turned back to him reluctantly, to find him staring at her. _Oh god…what are you thinking, Kovu? If only I could read your mind sometimes. I swear it. You'd be mine. _

"I'm sorry." Kovu said, breaking the awkward silence. "For…snapping at you earlier." He blushed now himself, feeling ashamed for his actions earlier.

"It's fine…perfectly understandable." Sora said, her voice rising in happiness. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. No one needs to know you apologized." She said, giggling as she moved past him down the rock.

Kovu gave a nervous laugh, watching as she started to go. He moved quickly down the rocks at her side and leaned in, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Sora froze from shock. "Seriously…thank you Sora." Kovu stared at her for a second with those deep green eyes of his. Sora froze, giving him a deer in the headlights expression, while she was sure her face was scarlet red.


End file.
